SC-0

THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Institute of Public Affairs Coluimbia, SC 29208 Center for Bioethics Main Office 803-777-8157 Centerfor Citizenship Training 803-777-8156 Center for Environmental Policy FAX 803-777-4575 Center for Health Policy Centerfor Leadership and Public Management Leadership South Carolina Office of International Programs Publications Program Survey Research Laboratory August 17, 1993

Ms. Susan Kosinski EUR/DR/DPI Room 4440, NS USAID Washington, DC 20523-0053

RE: EUR-00180-A-00-1079-00

Dear Susan:

Enclosed please find the third six-month report for the above referenced cooperative agreement. If you have questions or need further information, please contact me. Sincerely,

Glenda Bunce Project Director

USCAiken - USC Beaufort * USC Coastal Carolina * USCColumbia * USC Lancaster * USCSalkehachle e USC Spareanburg * USCSumter * USC Union

An Affln e ACt, I E'ctium| (Crv'umnirv Inllutkn / LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (), SPO/EE-91-008

Institute of Public Affairs, University of South Carolina

THIRD SIX MONTHS' REPORT: October 1, 1992 - March 31, 1993

1. Summary description of project activities. This project began September 16, 1991. During the third six months of the project, the focus of the program continued on providing Resident Advisors to four cities: Varna, , Haskovo, and Kurdjali. Trip reports from the Project Director and each of the Resident Advisors were submitted for each trip to Bulgaria during the six months covered by this report. These reports describe activities in greater detail.

2. Implementation status.

Project Director. During this period, the project Director made three trips to Bulgaria.

She was there from December 1 - 15. She met with officials in Stara Zagora and Varna and introduced Pete Jenkins to officials in Haskovo and assisted him in getting settled. The trip also included meetings with officials of the Association of Rhodope Municipalities and the Association of Black Sea Municipalities under the USIA grant. From February 15 - 27, she was in Bulgaria to assist Pete Jenkins in starting his­ assignment in Kurdjali, to meet with officials in Stara Zagora and Varna and discuss the possibility of summer internships in those cities, to meet with the Mayor of Corna Orjahovitsa concerning possible participation in this project.

At the end of March and the first few days of April, she was again in Bulgaria. The primary purpose of the visit was to participate in the delegation in for signing the Sister City agreement with Columbia, SC. While she was there, she met the Presidents of the Association of Rhodope Municipalities and the Association of Black Sea Municipalities. She also met officials from Stara Zagora and Varna and met with Mayors of and Gorna Orjahovitsa to discuss involvement with this project.

Jim Budds. During this period Jim Budds completed his second trip to Bulgaria (he was there from September 5 to October 9, 1992 (since this trip was reported on in the second six-months report, it is not described here), and made a third trip from November 15 - December 10.

Stara Zagora. Mr. Budds was in Stara Zagora from November 5 - December 5. He continued work begun during the first, focusing primarily on planning and zoning and housing development. He also conducted a training session with the Municipal Council and advised on finance and public relations issues. Varna. Mr.Budds was in Varna from December 6 - 10. He continued his work on establishing a tourism school and a tourism center. He also assisted in setting up the process and criteria for hiring a new media relations specialist for the municipality.

Pete Jenkins. During this six months period, Pete Jenkins made two visits to Haskovo (December 3-18 and February 27-March 20) and also worked in Kurdjali (February 17. 26).

Haskovo. Following the project director's discussions with senior staff of the Municipality in September, it was agreed to send a Resident Advisor to Haskovo later in the fall. Mr.Jenkins worked with the Mayor and other senior staff. During both visits, the main focus of his visits was on communications, between the Mayor's Office and the Municipal Council, between the Mayor and his staff, between the Mayor's Office and the press, and the Mayor's Office and the public. He also assisted on a variety of other topics and produced a number of short briefing papers on topics of interest to the city. One of the issues of greatest concern to the municipality and a topic that came up in most conversations was completion of the hospital and provision of hospital equipment and supplies. Between visits, Mr.Jenkins made contacts with missionary groups in the US that provide used equipment at very low cost and returned with this information. Since then arrangements have been made for Haskovo to participate in a program and this has added greatly to their sense that Mr.Jenkins truly cares about their community and their wish to have him continue working there.

Kurdjali. There had not been time in December to include a visit to Kurdjali, but during Mr.Jenkins' second visit to Bulgaria, he spent the first week and a half in Kurdjali. Because of its proximity to Haskovo and the cooperation between the mayors of the two cities, Mr. Jenkins continued to be in contact with staff from Kurdjali during the following three weeks that he was in Haskovo. In Kurdjali, Mr. Jenkins again focused on communications issues. He was also asked to advise on environmental problems, health care, finance, and housing.

Development of materials. In February the project director took two sets of publications on particular local government issues; one was left in Varna, the other in Stara Zagora. In Varna, Stanka Raicheva has established a depository of all the handouts and materials that advisors have taken to Varna during the course of this material. In addition to translations from USC, she has had other material translated, including tables of contents of some materials. She has sent the list of materials available to municipalities in the Varna region and makes copies of whatever is useful for other cities. Pete Jenkins took reference materials and specialized publications to Haskovo and Kurdjali and also wrote a number of briefing papers that have been translated. Steve Butts, the small business Peace Corps Volunteer in Haskovo, offered to collect and make available all these materials to Volunteers working with municipalities throughout the country. He and Ms.Raicheva have also shared and swapped material.

Contact with municipal associations. The project has supported informally the Association of Rhodope Municipalities and the Association of Black Sea Municipalities. Since May 1992 when an internal memorandum linking it to the UDF was published in "Democratsia," the Association of Democratic Municipalities ("ADM") has been increasingly linked to the UDF. We have stressed the importance of a non-partisan municipal league. While we try to stay informed about developments in the organization, until it is established as a non-partisan group working for local government, we are not actively supporting the organization. During the December trip, the Mayor of Gorna Orjahovitsa also arranged a meeting with officers and staff of the National Association of Towns and Cities of which he is a member of the Board of Directors. This is the municipal league from the former regime and while some of the officers seem interested in change, the staff is same. At this point neither national group seems prepared to fill the role of advocate for strong local government.

Contact with other assistance projects. During this six months period, the Project Director made a special effort to contact and work with other assistance projects with activities identified with local government, in particular the World Bank and the Ministry of Territorial Development, Housing Policy, and Reconstruction (local government law reform), the Urban Institute (housing), the Institute for Sustainable Development (environment), and small business Peace Corps Volunteers ("PCVs"). The PCVs have been especially helpful and support with their connection through e-mail we have been able to communicate more efficiently than before.

3. Plan of activities for the next six months.

We anticipate extension of this project for twelve months with additional funding. We plan to continue the emphasis on technical assistance through visits by Resident Advisors. Jim Budds has an excellent relation with the municipalities of Varna and Stara Zagora and I plan to continue having him work in those cities. Because there is limited time that he can offer the project, I do not plan to have him work in other cities.

If Pete Jenkins is available, he may return for another visit to Haskovo.

With AID approval, I expect to have four summer interns working in Varna, Stara Zagora, and possibly Haskovo. 4. Expenditures.

- Total cumulative expenditures through March 31, 1993 AID grant funds: $312,629.55 non-federal cost-sharing $ 20,794.00

- Total expenditures for the reporting period (October - March 1993) AID grant funds $108,111.68 non-federal cost-sharing $10,397.00

- Total anticipated expenditures for the reporting period: $315,691.10

*Itis not clear what is meant by "anticipated expenditures," so I have taken 90.24 percent of the total since 18.5 of the total 20.5 months have now passed.